Russia ‘fearful’ of America’s rising energy exports: U.S. envoy

Russia has criticized U.S. efforts to supply natural gas to Europe because it is “fearful” of free-market competition, Washington’s top energy diplomat said this week, in comments that reflect growing tensions with Moscow over President Donald Trump’s “energy dominance” policy. The United States has become the world’s fastest-growing exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and is set to become the world’s third-largest shipper of the product this year, due to surging output from U.S. shale fields. Trump has said the supplies should provide European allies with an alternative to Russian energy and his Energy Secretary Rick Perry has called the exports “freedom gas,” postures that have drawn criticism from Russian officials. “They don’t like the idea of, even the concept of, competition because it forces a change in their behavior,” Frank Fannon, U.S. assistant secretary of state for energy resources, told Reuters in […]